


Tenten CRISIS

by Fimbulvetr



Category: A3! (Video Game)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-19
Updated: 2017-06-19
Packaged: 2018-11-16 04:26:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,690
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11246280
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fimbulvetr/pseuds/Fimbulvetr
Summary: In which Sumeragi Tenma makes mistakes, does laundry, and has a lot of friends.





	Tenten CRISIS

**Author's Note:**

> For Vantain. I hope you like Tenma being bad at things!

Yuki’s latest creation is a sundress.

For the past few days, he had been holed up in his and Tenma’s shared room with a scattering of magazines and fabric and fiddly bits whose purpose Tenma, after all this time living with the other boy, still doesn’t comprehend. Yuki gets a certain way when he’s in one of his moods. Tenma doesn’t mind so much. When Yuki’s focused, he tones down the name-calling and the look of concentration on his face, a sewing needle pursed between his lips, is pretty cute.

Anyway, Yuki had finished it the night before and left it on the dress form. When they left for school in the morning it was yellow with flowers on it.

Right now, it’s yellow with flowers and a Bepsi stain down the front of it. Tenma picks up the now-empty soda can from the floor with a feeling of dawning dread. He hadn’t meant to—of course he hadn’t meant to. He’d just lost his balance on the rug and slipped and thrust his arm out to grab purchase on something and, well—

He pinches the bridge of his nose, takes a deep breath, then surveys the damage. It’s stained, no two ways about it, and there’s no way Yuki won’t notice. He hasn’t a clue what the dress was for, or if it was even important, but guilt is mixing in with the dread now, his mind bringing up the expression on the younger boy’s face during the Autumn Troupe costume debacle.

“Shit,” he says to himself, then repeats it, louder. “Shit!”

Muku had said something about the two of them going to the bookstore after school, so he’s got an hour, maybe more if Muku gets distracted. Tenma takes another breath to compose himself, tossing the “murder weapon” into the wastebasket.

First step: Find out what gets soda stains out of fabric.

He pulls out his phone.

  


### 10 minutes since disaster

Sumeragi Tenma, talented actor and rising star, is running down the ground floor hallway with a dress over his shoulder. The whole “running indoors” thing that Sakyo-san’s always yelling about turns out to be a miscalculation when he almost bowls over Kazunari coming out of the kitchen, narrowly avoiding a collision with a shout of, “Watch out!”

“Whoa, Tenten! What’s the rush? –Whatcha got there?” Before Tenma can protest, Kazunari leans over to inspect the bundle of fabric.

“It’s—Look, I don’t have time to explain, I have to go!” Tenma says hurriedly, starting off again. He hears Kazunari call “Tenten, wait!” after him, but the older man doesn’t follow him. In his rush, Tenma doesn’t stop to consider the implications of that.

The laundry room is empty. He’d half hoped the Director might be there, or Tsuzuru, Omi, someone useful, but he’ll have to go it alone. It wouldn’t be the first time.

He lays out the dress on the counter beside the sink. What he’d read online suggested cold water and stain remover. Simple enough. He wets a sponge and starts dabbing it on the stain.

That’s when he hears footsteps approaching. Noisy, annoying footsteps. Tenma shakes his head—that could be anyone. Ten guys live on this floor, after all. He’s just about to open a cupboard to look for the stain remover when the door bursts open.

“Tadaaa! It’s Kazunari ☆ and Sumi ☆ to the rescue!”

“To the rescue~”

Tenma’s head thuds against the cupboard.

  


### 16 minutes since disaster

“So, you ruined Yukki’s dress, huh?”

“I-it was an accident! I’m trying to fix it, and—Misumi, get off the washing machine! I need to use that!”

“Tenma’s in trouble,” Misumi hums, unflappable and unhelpful as usual. He hops off his perch on the washing machine, at least.

“Yeah, yeah,” Tenma grunts, retrieving a spray stain remover from the depths of the cupboard.

Kazunari’s doing that thing where he taps his chin and makes thinking noises out loud, because he’s only ever quiet when he’s working.

“Yukki and Mukkun will be back soon, won’t they? It’s gonna take some time for the dress to come out of the washing machine and get dry and ironed, y’know?”

Shit, he hadn’t even gotten to the drying and ironing part of this disaster recovery plan. Kazunari’s got a point, and he should know—he’s an artist, he must get stuff on his clothes all the time.

“What’s the alternative? –What do you do when you get paint on your clothes?”

“I leave it or throw it out~ You don’t wear stuff you’re afraid to stain when doin’ stuff like that.” He taps his chin again. “Ohh, idea! What if we told Yukki that Kamekichi did it?”

“Do you want me to get my eyes pecked out!?”

“Nyaha, is that worse than what Yukki’s gonna do to you?”

“Kazu, look, this sponge is a triangle~”

“Nice, Sumi! ♪”

“Get out if you’re not gonna help!”

  


### 22 minutes since disaster

The dress is in the wash, hopefully to come out good as new. Misumi has wandered off somewhere, Kazunari in tow, leaving Tenma in peace with only the thumping of the washing machine to disrupt the silence. Except that’s when his phone starts vibrating. When he checks to look, the leader LIME group chat has burst into activity.

> **Sakuya:** Tenma-kun, are you okay??  
>  **Banri:** Nice knowing you Tenma. Have a nice rest of your life.  
>  **Tsumugi:** ? Tenma-kun, is something the matter?

_What the hell?_ Somehow, Tenma knows exactly who the culprit is.

> **Tenma:** What are you guys talking about?  
>  **Sakuya:** Kazunari-san sent me a message saying, “Tenten CRISIS!”  
>  **Banri:** And ten crying cat stickers.  
>  **Banri:** Did you get stuck in the bannisters again wwww  
>  **Tenma:** That was one time!!!!!!!!  
>  **Tenma:** Stop bringing it up!!!!  
>  **Sakuya:** I’m just at the conbini but I’ll be home straight away!  
>  **Tsumugi:** I’m not far from there, Sakuya-kun, I can meet you and we’ll go together.  
>  **Tsumugi:** By the way, do they have any protein powder? Tasuku said he was running low.  
>  **Sakuya:** Protein powder! Is that how he’s so muscular? I’ll look right now!  
>  **Banri:** Tenma got forgotten instantly. Sad.  
>  **Tenma:** I’ve got everything under control! I don’t need help.

With that, he shoves the phone back into his pocket. His friends mean well but they’re the most hopeless, bizarre assortment of people he’s ever met.

  


### 40 minutes since disaster

The washing machine trills the cycle’s completion after what seems like an age. Tenma’s been staring at it anxiously for the past ten or so minutes, unsure what else to do in the meantime. His phone has buzzed a few more times, but he’s ignoring it. Probably just Banri being a jerk about his situation again.

He opens the machine, holding his breath, and extracts the dress. When he holds it up to look, the stain seems to have faded somewhat, in so far as he can tell while the whole thing is wet and wrinkled. Tenma sighs. It smells of detergent and there’s just no conceivable way that Yuki, shrewd, cunning, frustratingly observant Yuki, won’t notice that something is afoot.

That’s when the door opens again.

“Fried rice, fried rice, we’re gonna have fried rice~ Wash, wash, wash my clothes so Sakyo-nii doesn’t growl~” Taichi sings. He has his dirtied gakuran jacket slung over his shoulder, and he’s grinning widely from ear to ear. “Oh, hey, Ten-chan! What’re you doing?”

The smile drops away immediately when Taichi’s eyes land on the dress.

“Is that… Yuki-chan’s dress?”

“Yeah.”

Taichi falls silent, which is rare enough that it carries with it a sense of foreboding. As Tenma shakes the dress out again and puts it into the dryer, his schoolmate approaches.

“Ten-chan… Listen…”

“Honestly—What is it, Taichi?”

“… I, I really admire you as an actor, you know!! It’s frustrating that you’re so good and you get to spend time with pretty girls on set and you’re so popular, but I think it’s amazing! I like hanging out with you even when it’s just ‘cause we’ve got remedial lessons… And, and I’ll really miss that! I’ll treasure the time we had together when you’re…”

His voice wavers, and there are tears welling up in Taichi’s eyes. Tenma has a headache just watching him. This is ridiculous.

“I’m not dying!” he snaps. “Everything’s under control, see? It’s washed, it’s gonna be dry soon, I’ll put it back upstairs and Yuki’ll be none the wiser.”

“But Ten-chan—”

“No buts! I-I’m not gonna die!”

“ _But—_ ”

“I didn’t go through all this trouble for nothing, got it? Everything’s under control.”

“But Yuki-chan and Mucchan just got home!”

“ _What?_ ”

Tenma hurriedly hits the button to start the dryer, then pulls out his phone to check the time. It’s only been forty minutes, how could Yuki and Muku have come home from the store already? He grits his teeth and checks his notifications.

> **Kazunari:** Crisis alert!  
>  **Kazunari:** Yukki’s on his way home!  
>  **Kazunari:** Don’t worry, KazuSumi will come to Princess Tenten’s rescue once more ☆  
>  **Kazunari:** Operation Interference Triangles, Start! △▷▽◁△▷▽◁△▷▽◁

The series of LIME messages had been sent 15 minutes ago. He should have checked earlier when it vibrated, damn it—

> **Tenma:** KazuSumi? Did you become one person?  
>  **Tenma:** Nevermind. Has Yuki gone upstairs yet? Where are you?  
>  **Kazunari:** Nope nope, we’re on a triangle expedition!  
>  **Kazunari:** Better hurry though, Yukki’s looking kinda scary~

He heaves a sigh of relief. Kazunari can be extremely reliable in his own way, and Misumi’s eccentricities make for easy excuses in a pinch.

“It’s fine, Kazunari’s got Yuki distracted,” he tells Taichi, who is so nervous he’s practically vibrating on the spot. “I’ve just gotta wait for this thing to finish. What’s that gonna take, five minutes?”

“Huh?? Ten-chan, it’s not a super magic rich people dryer! Even if it’s just one dress, it’s gotta be at least 15 minutes. Then you have to iron it!”

“Oh,” he replies, blankly. It’s not like he’s ever had to use a dryer before. Someone’s always been around to take care of that sort of thing.

“… So, we’ve just gotta keep Yuki-chan busy, right?” Taichi puffs out his chest, probably trying for bravado. He thumps his fist against his chest. “Leave it to me! I’ll be Kazu-kun’s backup!”

Before Tenma can say anything, the redhead’s gone. If they really can buy him time, then he has to at least try as hard as he can. He’s gotten this far, after all, and the end is in sight. Once the dryer’s finished, he just has to iron the dress. There’s a board and an iron up in their room, to make things easier.

And anyway, how hard can an iron be to figure out?

  


### 56 minutes since disaster

Tenma has successfully reached the last stage of his plan, for generous interpretations of the words “success” and “plan”. He passed Sakuya and Tsumugi on his way back to the stairs, assuring them of his alive status before hurrying on. All this work and stress and running around just so a boy two years his junior wouldn’t get angry, or worse—sad. The worst part is he’d probably do it again.

He sets the dress down, all warm and dry, on the desk chair, and goes to lay out the ironing board. Once he’s got everything set up, the iron hot and ready for … ironing, he starts ironing the back part of the dress, like the instructions he found online said to. There’s a sense of calm that washes over him now. He can do this. He’s doing this. Everything’s going to be just—

“Yukki, waiiiiit!” Kazunari’s voice wails from down the hall.

_Oh shit._

The door to their dorm room opens, and there’s Yuki, all terrifying 165 centimetres of him, brow furrowed. Tenma opens and closes his mouth. His hand stills.

“Wh—You’re going to burn a hole right through it!” Yuki shouts, rushing over.

 _Oh, shit. Oh shit._ It’s burning! Tenma switches off the iron and removes it hastily. It’s too late—an extremely conspicuous and distinctly iron-shaped scorch mark now adorns the skirts of the dress. He sneaks a look at Yuki’s face to gauge the severity of the situation, expecting fury, or a sharp-tongued remark about how he’s useless, but it doesn’t come. The younger boy stands silent.

Kazunari and Taichi dash into the room with simultaneous cries of “Sorry, Tenten!” and “Sorry, Ten-chan!” followed by a very confused Muku.

“So?” Yuki’s voice is brisk. “What exactly happened here?”

“Tenten had an accident, and we were trying to help!”

 _Don’t make it sound like I’m incontinent!_ Tenma wants to shout.

“Yuki-chan, please don’t kill him! They’ll lock you up!”

“Shut up! –Look, it’s my fault.” Tenma drags a hand through his hair.

“Obviously it’s your fault, you useless actor,” Yuki sighs. He hasn’t met Tenma’s eyes yet, still focused on the dress.

“Tenma-kun was just trying to help, right?” Muku pipes up. Tenma can tell how hard it is for him not to go off on a tangent about how something just like this happened in “Oh My Me Sugar Fairy” or something, and he’s grateful for the effort. “He’s even using an iron…!”

“I spilled some Bepsi on it, so I … y’know, I thought I could wash it and dry it before you got back. Sorry, Yuki. It’s uh, really … It’s a pretty shade of yellow,” he says, lamely.

Yuki clicks his tongue, then mutters something under his breath that Tenma doesn’t quite catch. He nudges Tenma aside and holds up the dress, still frowning and staring at it intently.

“What did you say?”

“I said, it’s _orange_ , you good-for-nothing. Isn’t that your favourite colour?” Yuki snaps, finally meeting Tenma’s gaze. Muku gasps, and Tenma is vaguely aware of Kazunari dragging the two out of the room, while his brain whirs furiously trying to catch up. There are a few things he wants to say. All he manages is:

“Huh?”

Yuki clicks his tongue again, lowering his head.

“Compensation.”

“What?”

“Compensation,” he repeats, enunciating precisely. “New fabric. New thread. We’re going shopping and you can’t complain about having to carry everything. You’re buying me lunch, too. And dinner.”

Tenma nods dumbly as the hole in his wallet grows wider.

“… And once I fix this, I want to see a movie.”

Had he accidentally inhaled something in the laundry room? Maybe the last ten minutes was just a hallucination, and he’ll be snapped back into reality at any moment, passed out on the linoleum.

“With me?”

“No, with the Emperor. Yes, you.” Yuki rolls his eyes. “Idiot.”

“Uh. Okay.”

“Good. Now get out. I need to work.”

Tenma just nods again, and leaves the room in a daze. Once in the hall, he takes out his phone again, opening up his conversation with Kazunari.

> **Tenma:** Thanks.

  


### One week since disaster

Yuki’s latest creation is a sundress, and it’s orange with flowers on it.

It’s just Tenma’s luck that they’ve picked the busiest time of day to go to the movie theatre. There are people everywhere, lining up to see the latest superhero movie. Until the day Tenma sees his own face up on those giant posters in the lobby, he can’t say he’s terribly interested. Yuki’s enthusiastic about whatever they’re going to see, though, or as enthusiastic as Yuki can project without spontaneously combusting.

“Hurry up, you useless actor.”

“Quit moving so fast, oi—”

“Worried you’ll get lost in the crowd? Here.”

Yuki’s hand clamps around his. It’s not as soft as a girl’s; even like this, Tenma can feel the calluses on the pads of his fingers from needlework. There’s a little sunflower embroidered into the cuff of the dress and Tenma can’t help but stare. He feels warm under his own collar suddenly, as he struggles to keep pace with Yuki.

It’s about five minutes into the movie that Tenma realises he’s been dragged to a horror. All that’s stopping him from leaping out of his seat to run far away and never return, is the hand that’s still holding his, and that infuriating, cheeky, hopelessly genuine little smile on Yuki’s face in the dim lights of the cinema.

He doesn't leave.

He doesn't let go, either.


End file.
